Exodus 23:13

23:13 “Pay attention to do ¹  everything I have told you, and do not even mention ²  the names of other gods – do not let them be heard on your lips. ³ 

Exodus 32:34

32:34 So now go, lead the people to the place I have spoken to you about. See, ⁴  my angel will go before you. But on the day that I punish, I will indeed punish them for their sin.” ⁵ 

Exodus 19:7

19:7 So Moses came and summoned the elders of Israel. He set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him,

Exodus 34:14

34:14 For you must not worship ⁶  any other god, ⁷  for the Lord, whose name ⁸  is Jealous, is a jealous God.

Exodus 30:37

30:37 And the incense that you are to make, you must not make for yourselves using the same recipe; it is to be most holy to you, belonging to the Lord.

Exodus 20:7

20:7 “You shall not take ⁹  the name of the Lord your God in vain, ¹⁰  for the Lord will not hold guiltless ¹¹  anyone who takes his name in vain.

Exodus 16:31

16:31 The house of Israel ¹²  called its name “manna.” ¹³  It was like coriander seed and was white, and it tasted ¹⁴  like wafers with honey.

Exodus 35:30

35:30 Moses said to the Israelites, “See, the Lord has chosen ¹⁵  Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah.

Exodus 15:23

15:23 Then they came to Marah, ¹⁶  but they were not able to drink ¹⁷  the waters of Marah, because ¹⁸  they were bitter. ¹⁹  (That is ²⁰  why its name was ²¹  Marah.)

Exodus 25:39

25:39 About seventy-five pounds ²²  of pure gold is to be used for it ²³  and for all these utensils.

Exodus 3:15

3:15 God also said to Moses, “You must say this to the Israelites, ‘The Lord ²⁴  – the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob – has sent me to you. This is my name ²⁵  forever, and this is my memorial from generation to generation.’ ²⁶ 

Exodus 9:16

9:16 But ²⁷  for this purpose I have caused you to stand: ²⁸  to show you ²⁹  my strength, and so that my name may be declared ³⁰  in all the earth.

Exodus 28:10

28:10 six ³¹  of their names on one stone, and the six remaining names on the second stone, according to the order of their birth. ³² 

Exodus 34:5

34:5 The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the Lord by name. ³³ 

Exodus 37:6

37:6 He made ³⁴  an atonement lid of pure gold; its length was three feet nine inches, and its width was two feet three inches.

Exodus 3:14

3:14 God said to Moses, “I am that I am.” ³⁵  And he said, “You must say this ³⁶  to the Israelites, ‘I am has sent me to you.’”

Exodus 12:11

12:11 This is how you are to eat it – dressed to travel, ³⁷  your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. You are to eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover. ³⁸ 

Exodus 17:7

17:7 He called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the contending of the Israelites and because of their testing the Lord, ³⁹  saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

Exodus 35:21

35:21 Everyone ⁴⁰  whose heart stirred him to action ⁴¹  and everyone whose spirit was willing ⁴²  came and brought the offering for the Lord for the work of the tent of meeting, for all its service, and for the holy garments. ⁴³ 

Exodus 32:13

32:13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel your servants, to whom you swore by yourself and told them, ‘I will multiply your descendants ⁴⁴  like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken about ⁴⁵  I will give to your descendants, ⁴⁶  and they will inherit it forever.’”

Exodus 33:7

The Presence of the Lord

33:7 ⁴⁷ Moses took ⁴⁸  the tent ⁴⁹  and pitched it outside the camp, at a good distance ⁵⁰  from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. Anyone ⁵¹  seeking ⁵²  the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting that was outside the camp.

Exodus 33:19

33:19 And the Lord ⁵³  said, “I will make all my goodness ⁵⁴  pass before your face, and I will proclaim the Lord by name ⁵⁵  before you; I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy.” ⁵⁶ 

[23:13]  ¹ tn The phrase “to do” is added; in Hebrew word order the line says, “In all that I have said to you you will watch yourselves.” The verb for paying attention is a Niphal imperfect with an imperatival force.

[23:13]  ² tn Or “honor,” Hiphil of זָכַר (zakhar). See also Exod 20:25; Josh 23:7; Isa 26:13.

[23:13]  ³ tn Heb “mouth.”

[32:34]  ⁴ tn Heb “behold, look.” Moses should take this fact into consideration.

[32:34]  ⁵ sn The Law said that God would not clear the guilty. But here the punishment is postponed to some future date when he would revisit this matter. Others have taken the line to mean that whenever a reckoning was considered necessary, then this sin would be included (see B. Jacob, Exodus, 957). The repetition of the verb traditionally rendered “visit” in both clauses puts emphasis on the certainty – so “indeed.”

[34:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “bow down.”

[34:14]  ⁷ sn In Exod 20:3 it was “gods.”

[34:14]  ⁸ sn Here, too, the emphasis on God’s being a jealous God is repeated (see Exod 20:5). The use of “name” here is to stress that this is his nature, his character.

[20:7]  ⁹ tn Or “use” (NCV, TEV); NIV, CEV, NLT “misuse”; NRSV “make wrongful use of.”

[20:7]  ¹⁰ tn שָׁוְא (shav’, “vain”) describes “unreality.” The command prohibits use of the name for any idle, frivolous, or insincere purpose (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 196). This would include perjury, pagan incantations, or idle talk. The name is to be treated with reverence and respect because it is the name of the holy God.

[20:7]  ¹¹ tn Or “leave unpunished.”

[16:31]  ¹² sn The name “house of Israel” is unusual in this context.

[16:31]  ¹³ tn Hebrew מָן (man).

[16:31]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “like seed of coriander, white, its taste was.”

[35:30]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “called by name” (so KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV). This expression means that the person was specifically chosen for some important task (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 342). See the expression with Cyrus in Isa 45:3-4.

[15:23]  ¹⁶ sn The Hebrew word “Marah” means “bitter.” This motif will be repeated four times in this passage to mark the central problem. Earlier in the book the word had been used for the “bitter herbs” in the Passover, recalling the bitter labor in bondage. So there may be a double reference here – to the bitter waters and to Egypt itself – God can deliver from either.

[15:23]  ¹⁷ tn The infinitive construct here provides the direct object for the verb “to be able,” answering the question of what they were not able to do.

[15:23]  ¹⁸ tn The causal clause here provides the reason for their being unable to drink the water, as well as a clear motivation for the name.

[15:23]  ¹⁹ sn Many scholars have attempted to explain these things with natural phenomena. Here Marah is identified with Ain Hawarah. It is said that the waters of this well are notoriously salty and brackish; Robinson said it was six to eight feet in diameter and the water about two feet deep; the water is unpleasant, salty, and somewhat bitter. As a result the Arabs say it is the worst tasting water in the area (W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:398). But that would not be a sufficient amount of water for the number of Israelites in the first place, and in the second, they could not drink it at all. But third, how did Moses change it?

[15:23]  ²⁰ tn The עַל־כֵּן (’al-ken) formula in the Pentateuch serves to explain to the reader the reason for the way things were. It does not necessarily mean here that Israel named the place – but they certainly could have.

[15:23]  ²¹ tn Heb “one called its name,” the expression can be translated as a passive verb if the subject is not expressed.

[25:39]  ²² tn Heb “a talent.”

[25:39]  ²³ tn The text has “he will make it” or “one will make it.” With no expressed subject it is given a passive translation.

[3:15]  ²⁴ sn Heb “Yahweh,” traditionally rendered “the Lord.” First the verb “I AM” was used (v. 14) in place of the name to indicate its meaning and to remind Moses of God’s promise to be with him (v. 12). Now in v. 15 the actual name is used for clear identification: “Yahweh…has sent me.” This is the name that the patriarchs invoked and proclaimed in the land of Canaan.

[3:15]  ²⁵ sn The words “name” and “memorial” are at the heart of the two parallel clauses that form a poetic pair. The Hebrew word “remembrance” is a poetical synonym for “name” (cf. Job 18:17; Ps 135:13; Prov 10:7; Isa 26:8) and conveys the idea that the nature or character of the person is to be remembered and praised (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 24).

[3:15]  ²⁶ tn The repetition of “generation” in this expression serves as a periphrasis for the superlative: “to the remotest generation” (GKC 432 §133.l).

[9:16]  ²⁷ tn The first word is a very strong adversative, which, in general, can be translated “but, howbeit”; BDB 19 s.v. אוּלָם suggests for this passage “but in very deed.”

[9:16]  ²⁸ tn The form הֶעֱמַדְתִּיךָ (he’emadtikha) is the Hiphil perfect of עָמַד (’amad). It would normally mean “I caused you to stand.” But that seems to have one or two different connotations. S. R. Driver (Exodus, 73) says that it means “maintain you alive.” The causative of this verb means “continue,” according to him. The LXX has the same basic sense – “you were preserved.” But Paul bypasses the Greek and writes “he raised you up” to show God’s absolute sovereignty over Pharaoh. Both renderings show God’s sovereign control over Pharaoh.

[9:16]  ²⁹ tn The Hiphil infinitive construct הַרְאֹתְךָ (har’otÿkha) is the purpose of God’s making Pharaoh come to power in the first place. To make Pharaoh see is to cause him to understand, to experience God’s power.

[9:16]  ³⁰ tn Heb “in order to declare my name.” Since there is no expressed subject, this may be given a passive translation.

[28:10]  ³¹ tn This is in apposition to the direct object of the verb “engrave.” It further defines how the names were to be engraved – six on one and the other six on the other.

[28:10]  ³² tn Heb “according to their begettings” (the major word in the book of Genesis). What is meant is that the names would be listed in the order of their ages.

[34:5]  ³³ tn Some commentaries wish to make Moses the subject of the second and the third verbs, the first because he was told to stand there and this verb suggests he did it, and the last because it sounds like he was worshiping Yahweh (cf. NASB). But it is clear from v. 6 that Yahweh was the subject of the last clause of v. 5 – v. 6 tells how he did it. So if Yahweh is the subject of the first and last clauses of v. 5, it seems simpler that he also be the subject of the second. Moses took his stand there, but God stood by him (B. Jacob, Exodus, 981; U. Cassuto, Exodus, 439). There is no reason to make Moses the subject in any of the verbs of v. 5.

[37:6]  ³⁴ tn Heb “and he made.”

[3:14]  ³⁵ tn The verb form used here is אֶהְיֶה (’ehyeh), the Qal imperfect, first person common singular, of the verb הָיָה (haya, “to be”). It forms an excellent paronomasia with the name. So when God used the verb to express his name, he used this form saying, “I am.” When his people refer to him as Yahweh, which is the third person masculine singular form of the same verb, they say “he is.” Some commentators argue for a future tense translation, “I will be who I will be,” because the verb has an active quality about it, and the Israelites lived in the light of the promises for the future. They argue that “I am” would be of little help to the Israelites in bondage. But a translation of “I will be” does not effectively do much more except restrict it to the future. The idea of the verb would certainly indicate that God is not bound by time, and while he is present (“I am”) he will always be present, even in the future, and so “I am” would embrace that as well (see also Ruth 2:13; Ps 50:21; Hos 1:9). The Greek translation of the OT used a participle to capture the idea, and several times in the Gospels Jesus used the powerful “I am” with this significance (e.g., John 8:58). The point is that Yahweh is sovereignly independent of all creation and that his presence guarantees the fulfillment of the covenant (cf. Isa 41:4; 42:6, 8; 43:10-11; 44:6; 45:5-7). Others argue for a causative Hiphil translation of “I will cause to be,” but nowhere in the Bible does this verb appear in Hiphil or Piel. A good summary of the views can be found in G. H. Parke-Taylor, Yahweh, the Divine Name in the Bible. See among the many articles: B. Beitzel, “Exodus 3:14 and the Divine Name: A Case of Biblical Paronomasia,” TJ 1 (1980): 5-20; C. D. Isbell, “The Divine Name ehyeh as a Symbol of Presence in Israelite Tradition,” HAR 2 (1978): 101-18; J. G. Janzen, “What’s in a Name? Yahweh in Exodus 3 and the Wider Biblical Context,” Int 33 (1979): 227-39; J. R. Lundbom, “God’s Use of the Idem per Idem to Terminate Debate,” HTR 71 (1978): 193-201; A. R. Millard, “Yw and Yhw Names,” VT 30 (1980): 208-12; and R. Youngblood, “A New Occurrence of the Divine Name ‘I AM,’” JETS 15 (1972): 144-52.

[3:14]  ³⁶ tn Or “Thus you shall say” (also in the following verse). The word “must” in the translation conveys the instructional and imperatival force of the statement.

[12:11]  ³⁷ tn Heb “your loins girded.”

[12:11]  ³⁸ tn The meaning of פֶּסַח (pesakh) is debated. (1) Some have tried to connect it to the Hebrew verb with the same radicals that means “to halt, leap, limp, stumble.” See 1 Kgs 18:26 where the word describes the priests of Baal hopping around the altar; also the crippled child in 2 Sam 4:4. (2) Others connect it to the Akkadian passahu, which means “to appease, make soft, placate”; or (3) an Egyptian word to commemorate the harvest (see J. B. Segal, The Hebrew Passover, 95-100). The verb occurs in Isa 31:5 with the connotation of “to protect”; B. S. Childs suggests that this was already influenced by the exodus tradition (Exodus [OTL], 183, n. 11). Whatever links there may or may not have been that show an etymology, in Exod 12 it is describing Yahweh’s passing over or through.

[17:7]  ³⁹ sn The name Massah (מַסָּה, massah) means “Proving”; it is derived from the verb “test, prove, try.” And the name Meribah (מְרִיבָה, mÿrivah) means “Strife”; it is related to the verb “to strive, quarrel, contend.” The choice of these names for the place would serve to remind Israel for all time of this failure with God. God wanted this and all subsequent generations to know how unbelief challenges God. And yet, he gave them water. So in spite of their failure, he remained faithful to his promises. The incident became proverbial, for it is the warning in Ps 95:7-8, which is quoted in Heb 3:15: “Oh, that today you would listen as he speaks! Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness. There your fathers tested me and tried me, and they saw my works for forty years.” The lesson is clear enough: to persist in this kind of unbelief could only result in the loss of divine blessing. Or, to put it another way, if they refused to believe in the power of God, they would wander powerless in the wilderness. They had every reason to believe, but they did not. (Note that this does not mean they are unbelievers, only that they would not take God at his word.)

[35:21]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “man.”

[35:21]  ⁴¹ tn The verb means “lift up, bear, carry.” Here the subject is “heart” or will, and so the expression describes one moved within to act.

[35:21]  ⁴² tn Heb “his spirit made him willing.” The verb is used in Scripture for the freewill offering that people brought (Lev 7).

[35:21]  ⁴³ tn Literally “the garments of holiness,” the genitive is the attributive genitive, marking out what type of garments these were.

[32:13]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “your seed.”

[32:13]  ⁴⁵ tn “about” has been supplied.

[32:13]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “seed.”

[33:7]  ⁴⁷ sn This unit of the book could actually include all of chap. 33, starting with the point of the Lord’s withdrawal from the people. If that section is not part of the exposition, it would have to be explained as the background. The point is that sinfulness prevents the active presence of the Lord leading his people. But then the rest of chap. 33 forms the development. In vv. 7-11 there is the gracious provision: the Lord reveals through his faithful mediator. The Lord was leading his people, but now more remotely because of their sin. Then, in vv. 12-17 Moses intercedes for the people, and the intercession of the mediator guarantees the Lord’s presence. The point of all of this is that God wanted the people to come to know that if he was not with them they should not go. Finally, the presence of the Lord is verified to the mediator by a special revelation (18-23). The point of the whole chapter is that by his grace the Lord renews the promise of his presence by special revelation.

[33:7]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “and Moses took.”

[33:7]  ⁴⁹ sn A widespread contemporary view is that this section represents a source that thought the tent of meeting was already erected (see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 359). But the better view is that this is a temporary tent used for meeting the Lord. U. Cassuto explains this view very well (Exodus, 429-30), namely, that because the building of the tabernacle was now in doubt if the Lord was not going to be in their midst, another plan seemed necessary. Moses took this tent, his tent, and put some distance between the camp and it. Here he would use the tent as the place to meet God, calling it by the same name since it was a surrogate tent. Thus, the entire section was a temporary means of meeting God, until the current wrath was past.

[33:7]  ⁵⁰ tn The infinitive absolute is used here as an adverb (see GKC 341 §113.h).

[33:7]  ⁵¹ tn The clause begins with “and it was,” the perfect tense with the vav conjunction. The imperfect tenses in this section are customary, describing what used to happen (others describe the verbs as frequentative). See GKC 315 §107.e.

[33:7]  ⁵² tn The form is the Piel participle. The seeking here would indicate seeking an oracle from Yahweh or seeking to find a resolution for some difficulty (as in 2 Sam 21:1) or even perhaps coming with a sacrifice. B. Jacob notes that the tent was even here a place of prayer, for the benefit of the people (Exodus, 961). It is not known how long this location was used.

[33:19]  ⁵³ tn Heb “and he said”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[33:19]  ⁵⁴ sn The word “goodness” refers to the divine appearance in summary fashion.

[33:19]  ⁵⁵ tn The expression “make proclamation in the name of Yahweh” (here a perfect tense with vav [ו] consecutive for future) means to declare, reveal, or otherwise make proclamation of who Yahweh is. The “name of Yahweh” (rendered “the name of the Lord” throughout) refers to his divine attributes revealed to his people, either in word or deed. What will be focused on first will be his grace and compassion.

[33:19]  ⁵⁶ sn God declares his mercy and grace in similar terms to his earlier self-revelation (“I am that I am”): “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious.” In other words, the grace and mercy of God are bound up in his own will. Obviously, in this passage the recipients of that favor are the penitent Israelites who were forgiven through Moses’ intercession. The two words are at the heart of God’s dealings with people. The first is חָנַן (khanan, “to be gracious, show favor”). It means to grant favor or grace to someone, grace meaning unmerited favor. All of God’s dealings are gracious, but especially in forgiving sins and granting salvation it is critical. Parallel to this is רָחַם (rakham), a word that means “show compassion, tender mercy.” It is a word that is related to the noun “womb,” the connection being in providing care and protection for that which is helpless and dependent – a motherly quality. In both of these constructions the verbs simply express what God will do, without explaining why. See further, J. R. Lundbom, “God’s Use of the Idem per idem to Terminate Debate,” HTR 71 (1978): 193-201; and J. Piper, “Prolegomena to Understanding Romans 9:14-15: An Interpretation of Exodus 33:19,” JETS 22 (1979): 203-16.